A new story in the LA Times! Near and dear to my dark city.

Check it:

This desert wants to stay in the dark.

Southern Arizona’s black skies have turned the region into an international hub for astronomy. A proposed mine and its floodlights could threaten that.

Southern Arizona’s dark skies established the region as an international hub for astronomy in the 1960s. Observatories and other sky-gazing research facilities have brought prestige — and millions of dollars — to the state. Today, riches on the ground — or, more specifically, below it — also have the potential to enrich the state, resulting in an odd collision between mining and astronomy. [Continue reading]